Due to regular vandalism, Kingborough Council will be locking the Blackmans Bay beach toilets at night.
Kingborough Mayor, Paula Wriedt said it was unfortunate that as a result of ongoing vandalism the Blackmans Bay beach toilets would be locked at night time.
“It is so disappointing that our new toilets at the beach are constantly being deliberately damaged, requiring money and time to fix, and making them unusable to the community,” Cr Wriedt said.
“The most recent attack, last weekend, will cost Council approximately $3000 to repair the damage, and that is on top of what we have already spent in recent months.
“Baby change tables were broken, equipment burnt and damaged and the toilet was left in a disgusting and unusable state.
“Toilets are an important public facility yet a small minority of people within our community are deliberately causing as much damage as possible – for whatever reasons that only they understand.
“As well as locking the toilets at night time, when the attacks have happened, we will remove the paper towel dispenser and replace it with a hand dryer, to discourage some of the types of vandalism currently occurring.
“If the vandalism persists other measures such as CCTV will be considered but this then adds considerable costs at the ratepayer’s expense.
“It is unfortunate we need to take these steps but the ongoing nature of the vandalism provides no other real solutions.
“Our public facilities should be available to the community when required, but sadly a few individuals have senselessly decided to engage in this appalling anti-social behaviour and forced us to take this action.
“In the near future other toilets which attract this type of behaviour will also be considered for locking at night-time to prevent vandalism and further costs to residents.
The proposal is to lock the toilets at dusk and then open them at 6.30am.